


Shell Game

by VomitingOutWord



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Identity Reveal, Kwami Swap, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Episode: s03 Miracle Queen (The Battle of the Miraculous Part 2), no beta wie die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:46:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22985800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VomitingOutWord/pseuds/VomitingOutWord
Summary: With Hawkmoth aware of the temporary heroes' identities, Ladybug decides to make them exchange Miraculous to mislead him.
Comments: 19
Kudos: 40





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm just trying to put this out there so it stops rattling in my head, and I can sleep

With the Miracle Box in her possession, Marinette had yet another heavy responsibility thrust upon her, and was panicking. 

“Tikki, I can’t do this, Master Fu was trained by the Temple of Guardians and now he’s gone, so I can’t get his guidance and Hawkmoth almost won, and even knows the identities of –”

“Relax, Marinette. Fu believes in you; that’s why he chose you to be the next Guardian. You just need to believe in yourself, too”, soothed the tiny red god, “Besides, you don’t have to do it alone, you have Chat Noir. He’s your partner.” “Yes, you’re right. He might be able to help. Besides, I want to let him know about the other Miraculous. I trust him.”

This was how she found herself on the Eiffel Tower, nervously awaiting her partner’s arrival for patrol. “Good evening, milady. Beautiful night for patrolling, isn’t it?” “Hey, chaton. Before that, I need to talk to you about our last battle. Hawkmoth almost got all the other Miraculous; it might be safer to split the miraculous between us, so at least they aren’t all vulnerable together. Also, now he knows the identities of most of the people I had chosen, giving them Miraculous again would put them in danger, but -” “choosing new, inexperienced users is risky, too,” Chat finished, putting a small smile on Ladybug’s face as she realised how in-sync they were as partners, even out of battle. “Well, bugaboo, I’ve an idea. Why not just give those you’ve already chosen new Miraculous? They’ve already proven themselves to be trustworthy. Well, except Chloe.” Regret over his oldest friend’s betrayal quickly flickered across his face, before he continued evenly. “We could swap miraculous between them and get them to guide each other with the powers” 

While he waited for Ladybug to finish deliberating on the benefits and risks of his proposal, Chat reflected on the choices for the other users. Alya, Nino, Kim, Marinette, Kagami… all of them people he knew in his civilian life. Since Ladybug trusted them, she probably knew them the same way, which was a link Hawkmoth could use to investigate her identity. “Also, I think I should have some of the other miraculous to choose new users, if needed. If Hawkmoth tries to use the ones you’ve chosen to trace back to you, at least a few of my picks might be able to get him off the trail.” Ladybug worried her lip for a moment, before giving a small nod. “Just be careful, chaton” “Don’t worry, milady. They will be purr-fectly safe with me.” Stifling a groan, she pulled six smaller Miraculous boxes out of her yoyo. After checking the contents Ladybug handed over the Dragon, Snake, Horse, Monkey, Tiger, Goat, Ox, and Rooster, asking Chat to pass the first four to their users with instructions to meet the next day if possible, while storing the last few in case he needed to activate emergency users. 

Watching her partner vault away to carry out his task, Ladybug prepared herself to deal with distribute the remaining Miraculous. She expected that she’d need to handle each personally, hence not leaving it to Chat, as much as she wished she could. With a quiet sigh, Ladybug pulled the Turtle and Bee miraculous out of storage, swinging off toward Nino’s house. Landing through the window and shushing his panicked reaction, she revealed the Turtle bracelet. She assured him there was no akuma to fight, but that they needed to talk. Solemnly, Ladybug recounted the events of Chloe’s latest akumatisation, breath hitching slightly at Master Fu’s sacrifice and how it might be best to give Wayzz time to grieve over losing his previous Master, even if the separation was just from the memory loss and not the permanence of death. She believed that it would help the little god to have a familiar face around as support, hence her choice to leave the bracelet in Nino’s possession, along with the Bee comb, as protection in case Hawkmoth decided to target him. At that, Nino quietly pulled the bracelet on, watching as the kwami of Protection materialised, before gently pulling it into a comforting hug. 

Trusting Nino could manage, Ladybug left, preparing for her next delivery, nerves tense over a decision she had long deliberated on. It was time to reveal her identity to Alya. Hiding it had often weighed on her mind, especially whenever she had to lie and misdirect her friends attempts to deduce it. Besides, to carry out her plan, she needed Alya’s help. Fox Miraculous in hand, Ladybug carefully swung outside the door to Alya’s house. Allowing herself a moment to compose herself as she detransformed and fed Tikki, she knocked, knowing, from previous plans she had to cancel on yet again with a flimsy excuse, that Alya would be home alone, likely working on the LadyBlog. 

“Marinette, I didn’t expect to see you tonight,” Alya greeted at the door, mild confusion at the surprise visit lacing her tone. “Hi, Alya. I needed to tell you something important. Can I come in?” “Of course, girl. Is something wrong?” “Not exactly, I just wanted to let you know … the reason I keep going missing so often.” Before her friend could respond or she could lose her nerve, Marinette transformed in the living room, to Alya’s muffled squeals. “Surprise?” In the discussion that followed, the bluenette revealed how she had found her Miraculous on the day they met, fighting akuma for months constantly interrupting her civilian life and the upheaval caused by the latest battle, occasionally replying to questions from the curious reporter. Upon finishing her summary of Chat’s plan, Marinette explained her reason for the reveal, besides her desire to no longer keep secrets from her best friend. Chat believed her to be the user of the Mouse Miraculous and would expect her to appear the next day as Multimouse. However, she couldn’t be both Ladybug and Multimouse at the same time, thus needing the aid of the Fox hero. The plan was simple enough, a Mirage of Ladybug would appear to quickly brief the new heroes, before leaving Chat to supervise and leaving for a “solo patrol” in the opposite direction, both to leave the scene before dissipating, as well as misdirecting Hawkmoth’s attention, should he be watching out for the heroes. 

With Alya’s enthusiastic agreement behind her, Ladybug swung away, prepared for the last Miraculous she planned to deliver. Landing at a skatepark, nearly empty due to the late hour, she quickly found who she was looking for. As the only other person there, Alix also spotted her instantly, quickly rollerblading over. “Is there an akuma?”, the petite athlete asked. “No, but it is time for you to get your Miraculous.” Using a small smile to hide her concern, Ladybug began her speech. “Alix Kubdel, this is the Miraculous of the Rabbit, that grant you the power of Time Jumping. You will use it for the greater good.” With a warm smile, she placed the pocket watch onto Alix’s open palm, watching as Fluff emerged. “Hello, Alix. It’s good to see you again, or is this the first time we’ve met? Then, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Fluff, and I will be your kwami,” the rabbit-like god excitedly babbled, “Your activation phrase is Clockwise, and deactivation Counterclockwise, and when you use your power, Burrow, you can observe and travel to both the future and the past, but you only have five minutes before you time out and get pushed back to your own time, so be careful.” Giggling at the energetic kwami, Ladybug quickly explained how Hawkmoth nearly won the latest battle, convincing her to activate Bunnyx as an ace in the hole, and how most of the miraculous users would be gathering the next day. Before leaving, Ladybug suggested that Bunnyx should take a look around the Burrow to observe recent events and echoed a warning from the older Bunnyx she had met about keeping the things learnt in the Burrow a secret and the importance of letting things happen in their own time. Idly scratching the kwami dozing on her shoulder, Alix contemplated the magnitude of the power she had just been given.

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When the sun dipped below the horizon, there were seven Miraculous heroes assembled on a secluded rooftop. The Fox and Mouse were quietly speculating the reason they were gathered, an idle conversation hiding a quick summary of key points “Ladybug” would cover when addressing all the users later. Charged with nervous energy, Ryuko was silently practicing sword forms, with Viperion serenely strumming his lyre and humming a melody behind her. Meanwhile, King Monkey and Bunnyx had found each other and despite not knowing the person behind the mask, managed to start competing and bantering over their Miraculous enhanced strength and speed, while Pegasus mediated with statistics of the estimated increase. At that moment, a vermilion blur sped past, resolving itself into Ladybug just as Chat Noir landed on the opposite edge of the roof. Ever the showman, Chat flourished a bow to the group of newer heroes. “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. You must all be wondering why we have gathered you here today,” Chat drawled, spinning his staff like a cane. “For that, I pass the floor to my beautiful partner. Take it away, bugaboo.” 

Rolling her eyes at his antics, the Mirage strolled over, turning to face the clustered heroes. “We have been fighting Hawkmoth for months, and recently, he almost won and compromised some of your civilian identities. For your safety, we have decided it would be best that you exchange Miraculous, to convince him that all new users have been chosen, and hopefully, he will disregard the ‘ex-users’. Of course, this will not be a long-term solution, which brings me to my second point. We need to take him down soon, and for that, we require all of you to be skilled enough with your new miraculous to help us overpower him. Hence, we intend for all of you to pair up, train each other, then exchange Miraculous, with Chat as an intermediary to help preserve your identities. Any questions?” Ryuko’s hand immediately shot up. “I understand the logic behind your decision, but how will we be paired? You have chosen each of us to wield a specific Miraculous. Would a direct exchange succeed?” “It is not ideal, but it will have to do. The guidance of the previous user would hopefully compensate for the mismatch.” “Very well, I respect your decision,” Ryuko conceded with a polite nod. “As for the pairings, Ryuko, you’re with Viperion. Multimouse, with Pegasus. Bunnyx, you’ll be training with King Monkey. Your identity is safe, so there’ll be no need to do the exchange. King Monkey, I will probably choose a different Miraculous for you, but for now, please guide Bunnyx. For today, please spar in your pairs to get used to how your partner fights. Chat, help me watch over them. I’ll be bringing Rena to patrol with me today, in case I need a Mirage to distract Hawkmoth away from all of you. Anything else?” At the disjointed murmurs of ‘No’, “Ladybug” and Rena Rouge sped away. A block away, under the cover of darkness, Alya collapsed, the image of the heroine beside her dissipating. “Well done, kit,” Trixx encouraged, settling into her hair. “Rest up. I’ll keep watch for any akuma activity.”

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Back near the roof, each pair had split off to one of the adjacent roofs to get space to spar. Bunnyx, squaring off against the larger King Monkey, was attempting to use her slight advantage in speed and agility to dodge hits and parry blows with her umbrella, the ticking of her timer counting down to her detransformation. Repeatedly, she had to open holes into the Burrow to slip out of a corner Kim had backed her into, and of course it was him. How likely was it to find another meathead that could manage to get on her nerves that easily? What should have been a light spar to gauge her skill somehow escalated into a real fight, each trying to outdo the other, yet still perfectly weaving away from each other’s strikes. Chat had almost intervened a few times but was always told not to interfere by both, in tandem. Their pride wouldn’t allow intrusion into their clash. With just a minute left, Bunnyx moved into an impulsive attack, risking it all in that one strike. Half emerging from a Burrow hole behind her opponent, she thrust her umbrella forth. In surprise, King Monkey activated Uproar, jabbing her with a rubber chicken just as her Miraculous gave its final beep. 

The world fractured. 

Thousands of futures and pasts swirled in her vision. A lonely white cat sitting in the wreckage of a sunken Paris. A blue toad chasing a boy away from an inferno. Ladybug scattered into a golden dust as she accepts a rose from… a green Chat Noir? A figure, both glowing and wrapped in darkness, screaming their heart’s desire, the Universe screaming back. It was all too much. Too much. Must get away. Her feet scramble futilely, trying to draw upon the familiar comfort of the wheels beneath them. Going so fast that the everything becomes a blur. Suddenly, it does. The countless images at the edge of her sight fade into a haze, allowing her to focus on just a single way forward. A single image to cling to. A lifeline. Her watch, the metallic silver changing to a blue and white pattern as it passed into the hands of her adult self. She was a hero, and a random barrage of images was not going to be enough to stop her. As she almost touched the watch face, one final image assaulted her. Hawkmoth, lean and lithe (was he really that slender?), surrounded by a crowd of heroes, Mayura, now muscular (Hawkmoth must have akumatized his ally), a hulking golden creature behind them, King Monkey, gazing in despair at his hands, usual muscles absent. The heroes all wore shocked expressions, staring. Among the faces, familiar but her mind just couldn’t make a connection to the names, stood a girl in a silver dress and crown. Must be some special miraculous Ladybug is saving for the final battle, Alix shrugged to herself, before her hand somehow slid around the two-dimensional image of her watch. A wrenching sensation yanked her arm.

She blinked awake to see King Monkey watching her, eyes full of concern. Chat Noir was pacing around them, fiddling with a pager in his hand “You alright?”, the monkey hero asked. “After I hit you, you started screaming and thrashing around before suddenly going completely limp.” “Ugh, I’m fine, musclebrains. Just gimme a moment.” Rubbing her face with a gloved hand, she didn’t see his slight smirk at the familiar nickname. “Wait, why’m I still transformed? I should’ve run out by now.” Shrugging, the Monkey holder explains that Uproar had somehow paused the timer, in addition to whatever it did to make her scream. At that moment, Ryuko dropped beside them, sword poised and ready to handle an attack, Viperion beside her, hand wrapped around his bracelet, prepared to activate Second Chance. A Voyage portal dropped Pegasus and Multimouse on the other side. All four new arrivals tensely scanned the surroundings, only relaxing when they saw no visible threat. Bunnyx’s scream had drawn the attention of all the other heroes, who assumed an akuma threat had appeared. Despite repeated assurances that she was fine, Chat decided Bunnyx’s mishap indicated that they had practiced enough for the day. After facilitating the Miraculous exchanges, the leather-clad hero bid them farewell, advising them to test their new powersets while travelling home, and requesting Bunnyx to consult Fluff on her experience. Overall, the first training session of the new users seemed to have went well enough.


	2. When Life gives you Lemons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First akuma

Locked in her room, Alix finally felt ready to let Fluff out of her bag to discuss what had happened during the training session. She was aware of the Monkey’s ability to disrupt the abilities of others, but the flood of images was not what she would have expected. Her weapon becoming distorted, maybe, or possibly mistimed portals, but not random visions. “Well, that would be what usually happens with Xuppu’s power,” Fluff explained, sounding as confused as ever, “but since it happened while you were timing out, Uproar twisted that instead.” A mid-air flip to illustrate the inversion “Usually, you’d be pushed out of the Burrow, but today, the Burrow was pushed through you, showing multiple moments in the timeline. Every holder uses the Miraculous slightly differently. It was … lucky that you could cope by relating it skating and letting the details blur away.”

With the thought of the close call she had, Alix slept uneasily that night.

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Since taking up the ring, Adrien had learnt to ignore the minor aches and bruises that came with patrol and sparring, unlike most of the other users, who were trying to subtly stretch and massage their injuries when he entered the room before lessons began. Only Marinette, sliding in just before first bell as usual, was moving like her regular slightly clumsy self, almost as if she was as accustomed to it as him. Perhaps it was just that Max was a gentleman and took care not to hurt her, though, Adrien considered.

Class started promptly, with the other users occasionally dozing off before catching themselves. Miss Bustier’s lecture on how “A man who’s robbed, but doesn’t miss what’s stolen, isn’t robbed at all” was interrupted with a loud chime from Alya’s phone, the only exception the teacher allowed, if only because…

“Akuma report on the Ladyblog. Around the 4th arrondissement, travelling up the Seine.”

“Alright class, we’ll stop here for today. Try to finish reading up on the scene after you find somewhere to hide so we can continue immediately after the attack ends. Class dismissed.”

With a significant look to Marinette, the Ladyblogger dragged her boyfriend into a broom closet, all according to the plan. Donning the pince-nez glasses she received the previous day, Alya transformed into Cavalry, the new user of the Horse’s power, before Unifying with her Fox pendant. With most of the revealed heroes being in their class, there was the possibility of Hawkmoth watching, so any hero activated would need a cover story. Whispering to Nino to guard the door, Cavalry opened multiple miniature portals in front of herself, watching over the school from corners where she hopefully wouldn’t be spotted, keeping track of all the other users, with a single portal connecting Marinette’s locker to an alley near the akuma. Now, she just had to wait.

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When Chat arrived at the akuma site, he was surprised to see his Lady already lying on a rooftop, keeping an eye on its progress. This one was as outlandish as usual, in a bright yellow suit with a cartoonishly large white flower on the collar and mottled yellow skin, topped off with a lemon for a head. He was squirting the few unfortunate stragglers on the street using his flower, causing them to crumple onto the ground wailing.

“Life is unfair. It keeps pushing us down. Everything hurts, and nobody cares about the pain. Now, I’ll make everyone care!”, the Lemon screamed.

“Wow, looks like someone is sour,” Chat remarked, “Akuma should be in the flower. I’ll sneak down and handle it.”

It should have been easy. Ladybug distracts the akuma, Chat slips by to destroy the item. No temporary holders required, no need to test if Hawkmoth would be tricked by the swap. However, the akuma was erratic, suddenly turning around and noticing Chat’s approach just as he neared. Before Ladybug could do anything stop it, a jet shot from the flower and hit her partner,and unfortunately, the akuma’s attack was not just regular lemon juice, as they had assumed.

“Your mother doesn’t want you, that’s why she left,” a voice whispered in Chat’s head, “You aren’t enough for your father. He will never love you, no matter how much you do, because you’re the reason he lost his wife. Nobody cares about you. You’re nothing more than a pretty face living off your father’s success, and all your friends just stay with you out of pity. One day, they’ll just leave you, when they realise that with or without the mask, you bring Destruction to everything you touch. You can never confirm who Ladybug is behind the mask, because all you are is just a liability. You learnt her identity once, and what did she do? Erase both your memories. She doesn’t want you; you are better off just giving someone else your Miraculous. She trusted Adrien with the Snake once and all you did was fail her. You failed her twenty-five thousand, nine hundred and thirteen times.”

Shakily, Chat stood, the whisper still mocking every one of his failures and insecurities. He still had a job to do, and even if he was unworthy of his Miraculous, he still couldn’t allow Hawkmoth to get it. Immediately, Ladybug rushed to his side to help support him. “Are you alright?” she asked, worry lacing her voice.” “I’ll be fine, just be careful. The juice will bring out your worst thoughts. Where is the akuma?” “I couldn’t capture him. He became juice as soon as my yo-yo wrapped him up and managed to slip away. We need another hero to help.” “Let me handle it, milady. I have someone in mind,” Chat requested, before bouncing off to find his intended target.

Finding his biggest fan wasn’t too hard; as expected, Wayhem was hanging around a newly placed advertising board of Adrien, trying to adjust it so the ‘board could fully face the road, and everyone could be blessed with Adrien’s face’. Even if it was just for his looks, Chat was glad to have someone who believed in him. “Wayhem, this is the Miraculous of the Rooster, which gives the power of Motivation. If you accept, you will use it to join the fight against Hawkmoth.” At his acceptance, Orikko appeared, resting in Wayhem’s hair to explain their powers.

“Orikko, Crow”, he announced, an amber jumpsuit forming around him as brilliant golden wings burst out of his back, and a fan of long emerald feathers curled up from the base of his spine. After taking a moment to examine his new costume, he followed Chat, excited for his first battle. Following the trail of despondent civilians, the two heroes found Lemon locked in battle with Ladybug along the Seine.

“You’re too late, heroes. Soon, I will fill the Seine with my despair, then all of Paris will be as miserable as me.”

“Not if we can help it,” declared Chat Noir, joining the fight despite the murmur in his mind that he was inadequate. “Ladybug, meet Phoenix, our newest member. Show her what you can do”

“Rally!”, he cried out, an orange soundwave surging outward, rousing the dejected citizens nearby. Their eyes glowing a soft orange, the mob gathered around their tormentor, ignoring the repeated spray of his flower. “The Rooster helps inspire crowds,” Chat explained, the whisper reminding him of the mobs, only desiring his appearance, “it also gives a minor increase to their strength, speed, agility, etc.” then what makes you special, alley cat. “Usually, it would only be used to help other holders, but for today, it helps nullify the akuma’s powers, so we can _concentrate _. Cataclysm.” The flower crumbled with a flick of his wrist; the purple butterfly purified shortly.__

__“Miraculous Ladybug!” A wave of red restored everything, leaving a gloomy businessman in the akuma’s place. Apparently, he had a really bad day, losing his job and house one after the other. Leaving his Lady to console the victim, Chat brought Phoenix away to detransform, hearing his ring beep and watching the tail feathers droop._ _

__“Orikko, Roost”_ _

“Good job, today. Thanks for providing the _Lemon aid _. You did _egg-ceptional _. See you around.”, Chat called as he grabbed the extra ring and vaulted away for his own detransformation.____

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As he passed the locker room on his way back to class, Adrien spotted Marinette on her phone, catching snippets of her conversation. “Yeah. Thanks, Alya. … No, he handled it today, but maybe next … Glad you got footage … see you in class, bye” Musing why they didn’t just talk in the classroom, Adrien walked off to class, preparing to continue learning about perceived betrayal and disloyal servants, as Plagg whined about his rumbling belly and the cheese needs of a Destruction god. It was certainly an improvement from the other voice, that … what voice was he thinking of?

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A few nights later, the temporary heroes were once again sparring across a cluster of abandoned rooftops, with Alya acting as the opponent for Max, now the Mouse hero. Ladybug had explained Multimouse’s absence with her plan to use the Horse as a reserve. In a worst-case scenario, that any of them fall under Hawkmoth’s thrall, she would use Voyage to take them off the battlefield. Conveniently, the excuse also helped explain the Turtle’s continued absence; that as the Hero of Protection, he was functioning as the Horse’s security, and training her in self-defence. The other heroes accepted that easily enough, eager to test their new abilities. With a reminder to Chat to invite Phoenix the next time around, if only to introduce him to everyone, Ladybug leapt off to observe the sparring. 

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Raised since childhood in fencing, Kagami has competed against countless opponents, but none have irritated her quite like the boy in front of her. The first time they had fought, Viperion had dodged and weaved almost effortlessly away from her strikes, occasionally appearing behind her to tap her, as if it was all a game. Only later, after gaining the Snake Bracelet, did she learn from Sass that every dodge in the battle had come at the cost of being hit repeatedly in an alternate future he had experienced. Still, the idea that the Snake had managed to distract her with his music often enough in the fight to slip behind her irked her.

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Now, with the Bracelet on her wrist, Hebi was itching for a rematch. Watching her sparring partner swing his axe, testing its weight and balance, she activated Second Chance, prepared to win. The slash of her sabre began the match, barely striking the long tails of his coat as he dodged. Thrust. Parry. Dodge. Slash. The battle easing into a smooth dance between them, until she managed to corner the Dragon hero against a stairwell. As her sabre thrust forward to the space beside his head to end the match, he dissolved into water, swirling behind her. A tap on her back. “Good match,” he panted, sitting to strum the strings attached to his axe. Infuriating.

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wanted to justify my choice for the Rooster's power. I was thinking of roosters crowing at sunrise, and thought it would be cool to link it to the idea that even after the darkest night, the sun will rise again. There's always hope for tomorrow.


	3. Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a bunch of scenes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Going through a few short scenes just for background filler

Receiving the Horse Miraculous had done wonders for the Ladyblog’s content. Now that she had access to akuma battles from a distance and any angle she desired, the videos were no longer shaky footage from a phone camera chasing the fight, but taken through multiple portals with a proper camera, different scenes stitched together post-production. Not to mention that, no longer constrained by distance, Alya always had the fastest and most updated akuma information. Time saved from needing to chase the attacks and her attempts at guessing Ladybug’s identity was now spent researching akuma patterns and attempting to trace them back to Hawkmoth. While still unsuccessful at finding him, she had realised the timings of most attacks were similar, allowing her to discover lull periods where Hawkmoth likely detransformed and no longer actively sensed victims. Posting about these respites had led her readers to utilize them to vent their minor frustrations, decreasing stress for weeks before the villain finally caught on and changed his routines. 

Nino, of course, was just relieved that his girlfriend was no longer constantly running into danger.

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Scheduling had always been difficult with a secret double life. While he would gladly let the Gabriel brand flounder, knowing his Wish would reverse time back to before Emily’s coma anyway, he still found the brand’s influence useful for gathering information on his targets through rumours, and any obvious failure of the brand would likely draw undue suspicion over the inexplicable drop in quality. So, Gabriel was busy at his workstation, desperately trying to catch up to his work. 

In the beginning, he had thought it clever to design akuma as tacky and ridiculous as possible, deflecting suspicion off a designer such as himself. Surely, people would say, Hawkmoth must have horrible dress sense, to create such garish akuma. However, as the days bled into weeks, then months, the akuma design choices began to spread to his professional ones. By now, his mind was so preoccupied with akumatisation, that every new sketch was influenced with the peculiar, mismatched theme most of his akuma had. Natalie had to step in at that point, forcing him out of the lair to rid him of its influence, and to sit in his office proper, to design something for his upcoming line. Thankfully, with the Peacock repaired, she had been able to safely stay in the lair alone to keep watch for suitable emotions, as well as create a Sentimonster of her civilian form to assist him in minor tasks, while she dealt with administrative matters from her tablet. Such a mundane use for the power of a god, Gabriel reflected, but then again, what would be the point of power, if not for personal gain.

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Juleka suspected something was off with her classmates. 

For weeks, Kim, Alix and Max had been sliding into class half asleep, dressed in long sleeves despite the summer heat, and often leaning on each other to rest between breaks. She had asked Alix if she was alright, concerned for her friend, but the skater had just made up some excuse about staying up to study, and changed the subject. When she brought it up to Rose, the blonde had cooed, thinking Kim and Alix were secretly dating, and Max had been helping them keep it under wraps. Juleka found it more likely that they were just having their usual competitions at night, but that still did not explain Alix’s hesitance on the subject. 

Alya’s behaviour during akuma attacks had also changed recently. Instead of immediately racing off after them, she would be discussing something with Nino. Still, her footage of the fight would be posted on the Ladyblog, and Juleka trusted that Nino would keep his girlfriend safe, so there probably wasn’t anything to be worried about. 

The oddest change was Chloe. Over all the years, the girl had always been a spoiled brat, but since her parent’s akumatisation, she had been subdued. While the class used to be constantly interrupted by her whining and complaints, the blonde rarely spoke out anymore, merely whispering with Sabrina most days. Some had believed the change to be due to her mother’s return to her life interrupting her abuse of her father’s authority, but many still believed it was merely a phase, and that Chloe would eventually be back to her regular, unpleasant self.

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Out of the remaining Miraculous, Chat and Ladybug chose the Goat to be temporarily lent to Kim for training. Uproar was useful against opponents with problematic abilities, and they still hadn’t chosen a replacement for its power, but after the mishap of the first training session, it was decided that sparring with it presented too high a possibility for friendly fire. So, now clad in what looked like fluffy footsie pajamas, Kim was sparring with Bunnyx again. Contrary to its ridiculous appearance, derived from his sleep deprived mind getting distracted with the thought of counting sheep, the suit was not restricting his movements. As the Rabbit hero attacked him, the fluff helpfully cushioned the blows, but every time he tried to strike back, the fleece also softened the blows. The fight was rather futile, ending in a tie when both simultaneously dropped to their knees, tired from the exertion, but unwilling to be the first to give up.

As a person who valued logic, Max knew there were multiple facets to everything. When he first learnt of the Mouse’s ability to duplicate him at the cost of his size, he began to analyse the benefits and disadvantages of his new situation. He soon realised each Mini-Max was, to some level, an individual and capable of independent thought, allowing him to have each copy work separately on different tasks. By doing so, he had capitalised his time and made quite a few improvements to his personal technology. Now, a small army of himself was facing off against a crowd of the Fox hero and her Mirages. Prepared for this situation, he turned the heat vision goggles he had added to his costume on. While the Mirages were meant to deceive in every way, they were limited by the user’s cunning, and Alya had not considered such methods of detection. Immediately, the tiny Maxes hurled gravel at the copies they could identify, dissipating them; the remainder, some of which were subconsciously granted heat signatures, were quickly dispatched by trial and error. With that, the Mouse claimed his victory against the Fox.

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“Sub-Zero, this heat is not the way things should be. People should be able to frolic in the snow instead of melt under the sun. I grant you the power to change that; All I ask in return are Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous.”

As the flurry of snow swirled outward, many dogs started howling at the sudden shift in temperature.

“Oh, you poor things. It’s too cold out for all of you, the Fur-nace will keep you warm”


	4. Omen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chat gets a new power, I guess.

“Well, the reason Ladybug and Chat Noir have been patrolling less often lately is that they are found a lead on Hawkmoth’s identity and have been investigating. It’s actually top secret, but Ladybug came to me for help.” Lila stage-whispered to her classmates, who for some reason weren’t hanging on to her every word like usual. Pressed against Nino’s side, Alya was only half listening as she edited the Ladyblog on his tablet, occasionally making noises of agreement to act like she was paying attention. Behind them, Juleka was murmuring to Rose in low tones, concerned about something, as the blonde tried to ease her worry. Chloe listlessly browsed through a gossip magazine as Sabrina copied notes and did both of their classwork, neither paying attention to Alix chasing a laughing Kim around the classroom, her cap clutched in his hand. At the last row, Max and Nathaniel sat in companionable silence, entirely engrossed in working on their respective hobbies. Only Mylene was listening to the Italian’s words with polite interest, her boyfriend helping to adjust her braids behind her. As Lila internally seethed at the lack of attention on herself, her simmering rage would have been enough to draw an Akuma to her, if they had not already found a target.

A blast of chilling wind suddenly blew through the windows, sprinkling a thin layer of snow across every surface. With the assurance of class being postponed, Kim immediately ran out the classroom door, excited at the prospect of continuing their chase outdoors, an annoyed Alix at his heels. The rest of the class gradually followed suit, heading to the library for self-study and to wait out the Akuma attack, no one noticing Nino and Alya slipping away to a closet.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

A block away, Marinette’s hurried jog to school was disrupted as the ground beneath her feet smoothed over with ice, causing her to glide toward a tree, barely catching herself. Alert for the Akuma’s approach, she scanned the area, before slipping into a secluded alley to transform. As the red glow faded, a second wave of frost passed, kicking up a flurry of snow and a cacophony of howling in the distance. With a grimace of displeasure at the cold, she swung toward the noise, preparing to face a Akuma. 

The outdoor photoshoot for the first pieces of the Fall collection was winding down when the first wave hit, assistants scrambling to store the more delicate pieces away just in case. Grumbling about the sudden shift in temperature, Plagg peeked out of the collar of Adrien’s jacket to find the cause. The sight of the unnatural snow sobered him immediately, ready to face the Akuma that caused it, not that he’d admit it. “Where’s my Camembert? You left me here and I’m huuunngryyyyy,” Plagg whined when Adrien hurriedly tumbled into the changing room. The teen model nervously watched the tiny god inhale an entire wheel, before letting him transform into his alter ego. Chat hadn’t even got out of the park when he heard the baying of hounds around him. A pack of various strays were running around; ordinary, if not for the fact that most of them were made of fire, the normal dogs surrounding them for warmth. In the center of the group was a large black dog, it’s dark fur occasionally parting to reveal red hot vents on a metallic body, flames curling from the hollow eye sockets. It scented the air experimentally, before blowing a long tongue of fire into the air. The pack shifted, racing toward a lamppost, where the leader went forward to take a large bite straight out of the side. As molten metal oozed from the edges of the bite, the leader spat out a lumpy fireball, that slowly reformed into another burning dog, joining the pack. At that moment, another figure entered the park, a snowstorm swirling behind it. Flexible tubes filled with a blue fluid replaced its arms, randomly undulating like snakes, before blasting waves of chill from the palms, a swirling tank filled with the same liquid nestled in its chest churning as the tubes refilled. With every step, bootprints of solid ice formed behind it. A snow globe sat where its head should be, magnifying a scene of plastic people celebrating the winter. Children ran about in thick knitted scarfs, as couples snuggled close on benches, warm drinks in hand. More tiny figures skated about on a sheet of ice, mouths silently laughing in joy. The calm serenity of the scene was disrupted by the irritated screeching of the thing it was mounted on. 

“Why is there fire in my Winter Wonderland? This is supposed to be a cold holiday! Begone! Begone!”, the thing yelled, the cold blasts of its hands focused toward the pack of flaming hounds, who scattered about, dodging. The leader snarled at the intruder, sparks flickering around its maw, before a breath of crackling fire burst out towards the cold thing. It defended by redirecting its cold blasts forward, the clashing temperatures causing a ripple in the air around it, before exploding outward to knock both participants down. It was at that moment that Ladybug happened to swing in. With both opponents prone, she believed the fight would end quickly, gesturing to Chat to help break the Akumatised object while she tried to contain the dog creature and figure out what was happening. Unfortunately, when Chat neared the snow thing, it woke in a frenzy of flailing boneless limbs, knocking Chat’s hand and the Cataclysm dripping from it into a nearby snow pile, which dissolved instantly. While Chat was stunned by the turn of events, the Akuma took the opportunity to run away, screaming about how it needed to turn all of Paris into a Winter Wonderland. With a howl, the flaming dog gathered its pack as it ran from the string of Ladybug’s yoyo, the strays blocking her from getting a clear shot. Chat’s ring beeped as the countdown began. “Go recharge, I’ll look for them,” the red heroine called to her partner, rushing off to try to catch up to either of them. 

Nestled behind a few trees, Adrien fed Plagg his cheese, describing the strange dog they were fighting. “So, it could consume metal, and use that to create minions? The Peacock must have been fixed,” the god sighed. “At full power, the Amoks are able to feed off the same emotion they were created with and use it to make replicates of themselves. You can damage them by breaking the item the original used to create them, but until it is defeated, the original will keep replicating, and it can transfer its status to minions as it pleases.” “So, I’d have to defeat them all at the same time, or a minion would replace it. That’s great.”, Adrien sighed, pulling out his pager. A short, predetermined code to Ladybug to update that he’d be coming soon, with news. Looking at his dejected user, Plagg admitted reluctantly, “Well, ... I do have another power that might help, it’s called Omen.”

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

“It works like an anti-Lucky Charm,” Chat explained, parroting his kwami’s words. “Once it’s activated, the item automatically starts the chain reaction, which will hopefully end with us winning. Plagg says it’s powerful but very unpredictable.” “Ok, let’s try it,” Ladybug responded, pointing at the fire dog and ice thing, which had found each other again and looked about to fight. “I’ll handle the Akuma. Good Luck with the Amok.” With a pat on his shoulder, she was off, yoyo twirling to block the frost attack. 

Chat turned to focus on the gathered dogs. Plagg had told him Omen required him to completely concentrate on his opponent to work. Eyes locked on the pack, he whispered, “omen” The world exploded in a flash of glaring colour, burning his eyes before he adjusted. Blinking at the unnatural contrast, he started to notice oily, black shadows flow out of corners and cracks, disturbingly sharp grins and glowing eyes emerging from the inky depths, resolving into some twisted caricature of Plagg. Three suddenly leapt forward, latching onto his arm, hacking and coughing. Shards of a broken mirror dropped out of their mouths like hairballs, the reflected light stunning Chat, who instinctively threw them outwards. The shards smacked the windshield of a passing car, the shocked driver swerving to the side, straight into a fire hydrant. At once, water shot into the sky, splashing down onto the fiery dogs, hissing as they cooled into metallic lumps. The leader was the last to go, howling in pain as its outer shell warped and cracked, spitting out a dog collar. The feather drifted off in the wind, quickly purified. As a flurry of ladybugs swept past

“Pound it!”

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

“I hope you’re prepared for the consequences,” Plagg stated, drifting around Adrien’s head in a lazy circle. “It’s just a little bad luck, right? I can handle it.”, Adrien responded in a whisper, moving away from the shelves as he followed his classmates out of the library. 

A dull thud as a book fell on his head, gleaming green eyes peering from the space where the book had been.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just want to clarify that Hawkmoth was planning to have the Akuma and Amok at opposite ends of the city to divide LB n CN; just luck that they ran into each other


	5. Adrenaline Rush

It was the little things. Plagg’s curse didn’t harm him much, beyond the occasional bruise (which had to be concealed carefully during his shoots, his father’s disapproval evident). Instead, it was more of an irritation, like an itch he couldn’t reach. A ridiculously packed schedule compounded with unnatural traffic jams. A drug sniffing dog took special interest in the Camembert in his pockets. An infestation of wild birds that left him sneezing every time he went outdoors. Coffee spilling across the pages of his textbook, leaving stains he’d struggle to remove. It was subtle. Things he’d chalk up to chance and coincidence if not for the tiny black god that followed him, alternating between laughter and occasional concern. (“If something happened to you, where would I get my cheese?”) The oddest incident was when Chloe randomly pulled him aside one day to talk.

“Adrien, you know you’re my oldest friend, right?”, staring at him with a strange look in her eye.  
“Yes…?”, he responded, confused.  
“… and I would never want to hurt you?”  
“Yes?”, suspicious of her intent, expecting to get dragged into some malicious scheme.  
“Well, that’s good,” her normal confidence back on her face, “You’re important to me. Don’t forget that.” She declared, ending the conversation and flouncing away.  
***************************************************************************  
As the week ended, the odd creatures that were following him slowly faded away, with Plagg proudly pronouncing that Adrien’s penance was over, side-eyeing the last of the things.   
“Be careful next time”, the god warned, smirking. “You got off easy this round.”

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“Adrenaline, you want to live fast and have fun, but no one understands that. I give you the power to be free to do what you desire. All I want in return is Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous.”  
“Freedom brings you excitement. Let me guide your excitement and let you ride wild on your mighty steed, Zebraforce.”

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

Lessons had ended for the day, and the class was chattering as they made their way home, when a crash resounded from the street.

“Woohoo, Baby!! Carpe Diem!”, a visually loud figure screamed in delight, as his mount, grey and lumpy, as if forged from burnt out wreckage, nickered beneath him, before speeding off.   
The departure of the akuma spurred the teens into action. Adrien and Marinette quickly spluttered out excuses as the ran in opposite directions. Alya immediately began composing the blog post for the newest akuma, distractedly following Nino as he led her to take shelter indoors. Chloe strode off, calling for a ride, Sabrina trailing behind her. The rest of the class went off, towards the Liberty, prepared to hang out while waiting out the attack.

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The baton struck out, jousting Adrenaline off his steed. Bouncing off the tarmac, the akuma laughed maniacally, “Aw yeah, this is living!” Glowing red lines rose along his veins, bulging his skin unnaturally. With a running start, he leapt back onto his mount, riding off, heedless of the damage he caused, crashing recklessly through everything in his path.

“Hitting him makes him stronger? Talk about déjà vu, huh, Ms Madly Clumsy.”  
“We can reminisce later, kitty. Akuma first.” Ladybug swung off, sending out two messages as she went.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

A shimmering portal had formed in the frame of a nondescript cupboard in the Liberty, Kim gawking at the odd ‘larger on the inside’ effect it caused. When he got the instructions from the boss lady to go to the closet to await transport, he was expecting to have Chat waiting for him to hide his approach into the battle area, not a secret jump point. Still, they asked for his help. He shouldn’t keep them waiting. A quick scan that no one else was watching. “Ziggy, Over the fence” The onesie formed. He leapt forward, prepared to battle.

Adrenaline was now standing astride his zebra, surfing around the street and cackling as his bulk seemed grow outward from getting hit with random debris. Staring, Kim could almost hear a grinding in his ears, an angry roar. 

“C’mon, Kid,” Chat yelled as he tried to corral the rampaging akuma. “Use your power.”

That snapped Kim out of his daze. “Peace Out.” The gloves of his onesie expanded slightly, reshaping into a pair of mittens. Sprinting forward, the goat hero leapt into an uppercut on the excitable akuma. Staggering, Adrenaline crashed to the ground, body shrinking from the previously imposing form into a human sized red figure, curled up and snoring. With his master down, Zebraforce slowed down, its ashen skin flaking off to reveal a horse as white as snow. Releasing the corrupted items, Adrenaline shrunk even further, becoming a lanky teen, as the Amok stretched, reshaping into a sports car. 

“Good job, Kid”

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

"Ziggy, turn Baaaaaack"

Umbrella twirling, Bunnyx watched through a portal as her … partner? finished his first mission with a new Miraculous. Worry for her friend had led her to slip away to the Burrow to watch out for him. Returning to the cupboard she had chosen and detransforming, she was able to easily catch up to Kim in the corridors, trying to sneak back to the group. “Sup, meathead. Where’ve you been?”

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

Kim easily found Ivan chatting with the rest of the group.   
“Ivan, could I speak to you for a moment?”   
The large boy turned away from his conversation with Juleka and his girlfriend.  
“Listen… I never apologized to you for making fun of you on the first day of school. So, sorry for upsetting you and making you become the first akuma. It takes a lot of courage to express your feelings.”  
The apology had caught the attention of Max and Nathaniel by now, who were watching for Ivan’s response.   
A silent nod, an arm outstretched for a handshake. Acceptance.

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Juleka anxiously stood at the open door of her brother’s room.

“Luka, is everything okay? I’ve noticed you sneaking in in the middle of the night. If there’s anything going on, you know you can talk to me, right?”

A moment of stunned silence. “Don’t worry, Jules. It’s nothing. Love you, sis.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah. I made the Goat the Miraculous of Peace,


	6. Klepto

Once more sprawled on a rooftop after another sparring match, Bunnyx and Kid were idly chatting about their powers.  
“Yeah, it’s cool to be able to knock out opponents in one punch, but I still need to get in close. Sure, my suit seems to block physical attacks, but you’ve seen the kind of weird powers akuma get. Anything could happen, you know? … By the way, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you. You can see the future, so why don’t you look for Hawkmoth’s identity or anything? I mean, the curiosity would be killing me.”

“Of course it would, you dumb ape.” A half-hearted swat at his shoulder, a sigh. “Besides the fact that we might not be ready to face him, and my future self warned me about the right time for everything? I’m worried that Hawkmoth might be someone I know. How could I face them and act like everything is fine, knowing everything that they’ve done; everything they’ve made us do. I’ve been akumatised before, and whatever they’re after, the rest of us are just collateral damage; I would’ve killed people I care about just because of a moment of anger.”

A hug enveloped her, oddly comforting considering her friend’s suit was a glorified pillow. “None of us are to blame for what we did as akuma. Hawkmoth took advantage of us in a moment of weakness; he is the only one to blame. You’re right. I don’t think I could deal with knowing who he is without trying to punch him, no powers needed.”

A humourless chuckle. “Someday, I’m sure you’ll get the chance. Anyways, time Miraculous. When it’s time, I’ll come back to leave a message.”

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Luka was lying in his bed, rocked to sleep by the waves, when he felt a tingling sensation on his neck. Reaching up, he realised the choker was gone, immediately prompting him to leap to his desk, where Longg was resting upon a small pile of cloth. Relieved that his kwami did not disappear too, he gently prodded the god awake to discuss the problem. It seemed akuma related, but he was sure he didn’t see anyone, or anything, take the choker, and it was odd that anyone after a miraculous would ignore the kwami openly lying on the table. The god in question suggested going out to search for it, assuring that it still could help with its power even without the transformation.

The streets of Paris were quiet at night, and if not for the stress of losing a magical artefact of immense power, Luka would have found it a relaxing stroll. There weren’t any obvious signs of an akuma out and about. No screams and explosions, or bizarre changes to the environment. It was only quiet, a city asleep after a long day. His fingers twitched at his side, the ghost of a lullaby playing in his head.   
Humming to himself, he almost didn’t notice the shadowy figure hunched on a rooftop. It seemed to be a girl his age, but wrapped entirely in an inky darkness, the only defining feature being gigantic corkscrew curls beside her head, ending in the vague shape of claws. She did not seem to notice him, obsessively reaching into herself to grab items and sorting them into piles. Suddenly, she convulsed, vomiting out a black butterfly, which fluttered away. Just as her feet began to detransform, the akuma screeched, “MINE!”, one of her twintails whipping out to snatch the akuma out of the sky and shoving it back into her chest. Once more preoccupied with her piles, the akuma did not notice Luka slowly approach her, Longg vaguely gesturing at the piles to indicate the presence of the choker somewhere in there. Luka was confident that if the akuma was distracted, he’d be able to find his Miraculous and transform, but she seemed to have a single-minded focus on her piles. He wished any other members of the team were around, but it seemed he was on his own. He probably couldn’t get his Miraculous back without getting noticed. Fighting the akuma head-on would be pointless; even if he won, he couldn’t capture or purify the butterfly. 

Just as he was about to give up and hope one of the other heroes was available to deal with this peculiar akuma, there was a thump to his side, Chat Noir. “Hello, random civilian. Let me get you to safety.” Picking him up, Chat jumped away from the akuma with Luka in his arms. 

“Ok, what can you tell me about the akuma, and why are you not transformed?”, the cat hero whispered.   
“She seems to have some ability to steal things, and I’m pretty sure she took my miraculous without knowing. She hasn’t given it to Hawkmoth, and I still have Longg. Akuma is probably in her chest, but she seems to be very possessive of it. She’ll try to grab it back.”  
“Alright, stay here and help me distract her with a storm? I’ll handle this.”  
Under the cover of a localised storm, Chat slipped behind the preoccupied akuma. A slash later, the butterfly was released. “Cataclysm” Immediately reduced to ash. Plagg had warned him before why Ladybug was usually the one to purify akuma, but this would be worth a try. The girl rose, dazed, staring at the piles in front of her. “What am I doing here?” “You were akumatised. Do you remember anything from before?” “I just remember going into a shop to … do something? And then, I was here, I guess.” Memory loss of why she was targeted, expected. “Alright. Do you feel okay? I can bring you home or something?” “Yeah, just feel like I’m forgetting something. Thanks, Chat Noir. It’s that way.”

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

“Getting the girl and the magpie to get the Miraculous was a failure, but one day, it will be I who steals the victory!”

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

It was always disorienting to reconstruct himself and reorganise the separate tasks he had performed while split. Stifling a yawn, Max ran through his task list. Upgraded mechs for his miniatures. Research into Miraculous powers, both for personal interest and understand how to improve. Sleep. Cross-referencing past attacks to try to pinpoint Hawkmoth. 

It was truly efficient to be able to multitask in such a way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, why does Hawkmoth waste time with such destructive akuma instead of just optimising one to STEAL. He's seen Feast. He made Kwamibuster. Sigh.

**Author's Note:**

> I have the story planned out, i swear.


End file.
